Nintendo has released its financial report for the first quarter of the current fiscal year, 1 April to 30 June 2024, and we’ve already commented on the company’s significant drop in overall profits, both in hardware, software and the mobile business segment.
However, we need to qualify a little on the software side, because while the report indicates a 41.3% decline in game sales profit compared to the same period last year, the company has managed to get three titles released on Nintendo Switch to over one million copies sold, and two of those are first party, with one third party game undisclosed.
We’re talking about Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD. The remake of Paper Mario (the original of which was released on Gamecube in 2004) has reached 1.76 million units sold since its launch on 23 May. The remaster of the second instalment of Luigi’s Mansion 2 (which was released in 2013 for Nintendo 3DS) surpassed 1.19 million copies since its debut on 27 June, which is an even bigger success, if we compare the dates.
However, both are end-of-life cycle releases for the Switch, which is showing clear signs of exhaustion after eight years on the market. As for the company’s other titles planned for this fiscal year, Nintendo is hoping that with Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club on 29 August, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on 26 September, Super Mario Party Jamboree on 17 October, Mario & Luigi: Brothership on 7 November, and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD on 16 January 2025 they can improve on these results and maintain the same fiscal year forecasts they offered on 7 May.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends: Z-A are also planned for 2025, but it is unknown whether they will be set for release in this fiscal year, or will enter the next (along with the launch of new hardware).
Do you think Nintendo Switch’s release schedule for the current fiscal year?